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Zac Rosscup

Dodgers Promote Edwin Rios, Select Zac Rosscup’s Contract

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The Dodgers announced a set of roster moves today, including the selection of left-hander Zac Rosscup’s contract from Triple-A.  Infielder Edwin Rios was also called up to the majors, while Caleb Ferguson and Tony Gonsolin were optioned to Triple-A.  To create a 40-man roster spot for Rosscup, A.J. Pollock was shifted to the 60-day injured list.

This will be the 25-year-old Rios’ first taste of Major League action, following five seasons in the Dodgers’ farm system after being a sixth-round draft pick in 2015.  Rios is ranked as the 12th-best Dodgers prospect by MLB.com, whose scouting report touts Rios’ power, bat speed, and hard-contact ability.  As you’d expect from a Dodgers player, Rios can play multiple positions; he has primarily been a corner infielder in his young career, though he has experience in left field over the last two seasons and a handful of appearances in right field.

Rios will add another left-handed bat to the L.A. roster, and functionally seems to fill more or less the same role as the hot-hitting Matt Beaty, another lefty-swinger.  The Dodgers are no strangers to roster churn, of course, and have the comfort of a big lead in the NL West to mix and match their lineup while waiting for Pollock and Corey Seager to return from the IL.

This will be Rosscup’s second stint with the Dodgers, as he first joined the organization on a waiver claim in July 2018 before being let go after the season.  Rosscup has already changed uniforms twice this season, and has a 4.80 ERA over 15 total innings for the Mariners and Blue Jays.  Rosscup’s career has been defined by both a lot of strikeouts and a lack of control, and those two trends have continued this season to the tune of 22 strikeouts and 16 walks over his 15 frames of work.

Still, his lopsided career splits (left-handed hitters have a .536 OPS against Rosscup, compared to a 1.016 OPS from righty batters) make Rosscup a good LOOGY-type pitcher for a Los Angeles bullpen that is short on southpaw depth, as Julio Urias is the only other left-hander in the relief corps.  Ferguson was posting solid numbers earlier in the season but has struggled badly as of late, allowing runs in five of his last seven outings while posting a 9.72 ERA over his last 8 1/3 innings pitched.

Dodgers Sign Zac Rosscup To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have signed left-hander Zac Rosscup to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City, per an announcement from Triple-A director of communications Alex Freedman (Twitter link). He’ll be active for tonight’s game.

Rosscup, who turned 31 this week, spent the 2018 season in the Dodgers organization and pitched 11 1/3 innings at the big league level. While he posted an unsightly 4.76 ERA in that time, Rosscup also racked up 20 strikeouts against just four walks. He’s split the 2019 season between the Mariners and Blue Jays thus far, showing similarly impressive strikeout capabilities but an alarming jump in walk rate (22-to-16 K/BB ratio in 15 innings).

Rosscup’s knack for missing bats and the huge swinging-strike rate he generates on his slider are tantalizing characteristics, but he’s been too prone to walks and home runs to find sustained success at the MLB level yet. He’ll vie for another shot in what has been a problematic Dodgers’ bullpen of late and could well get that opportunity if he pitches well in OKC, as both Scott Alexander and Tony Cingrani on the Major League injured list. Los Angeles currently has Julio Urias and Caleb Ferguson as southpaws in the ’pen, but Ferguson has struggled quite a bit in his 18 1/3 innings this year.

Zac Rosscup Elects Free Agency

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12:05pm: The team announced that Rosscup has elected free agency rather than take an outright assignment, as is his right as a player with more than three years of big league service time.

10:20am: Left-hander Zac Rosscup cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Buffalo by the Blue Jays following last week’s DFA, per the team’s transactions page.

Rosscup, 31 next week, appeared in just two games with the Jays after being claimed off waivers out of the Mariners organization, allowing four runs on three hits and two walks with two strikeouts in one inning. Rosscup has posted huge swinging-strike rates over the past couple of seasons and demonstrated an ability to rack up strikeouts in bunches — 42 in his past 26 innings — but his control has been evaporated in 2019. Through 15 innings of work this year, he’s allowed 16 walks and thrown two wild pitches.

Control issues notwithstanding, Rosscup averages 92.4 mph on his fastball and has generated a gaudy 23.7 percent swinging-strike rate on his slider since the start of the 2018 campaign. He’s also out of minor league options, so any club that eventually puts him back on the big league roster would need to expose him to waivers again if it wished to then send him back to the minors.

Blue Jays Designate Zac Rosscup, Select Justin Shafer

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The Blue Jays announced Tuesday that they’ve designated left-handed reliever Zac Rosscup for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for right-hander Justin Shafer, whose contract has been formally selected from Triple-A Buffalo.

It appears that Rosscup’s tenure with the Jays will be a brief one. Toronto claimed him off waivers from the Mariners last week, but he appeared in just two games. In that time, he was knocked around for four runs on three hits and a pair of walks with two strikeouts in an inning of work. Rosscup had previously notched a 3.21 ERA in 14 innings with Seattle, but he also walked 14 hitters in that time. Rosscup’s huge swinging-strike rate on his slider and his general knack for missing bats have stood out over the past two seasons, but this year’s control troubles are also quite pronounced.

The 26-year-old Shafer will be stepping up for his second stint with the Blue Jays, who selected his contract last August but later outrighted him off the 40-man roster when he cleared waivers. He’s allowed just two earned runs with a 16-to-6 K/BB ratio in 18 2/3 innings for Buffalo this season.

Blue Jays Claim Zac Rosscup, Designate Jimmy Cordero

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The Blue Jays have claimed lefty Zac Rosscup off waivers from the Mariners, per a club announcement. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Toronto has designated right-hander Jimmy Cordero for assignment.

Rosscup, 30, inked a Major League deal with the Mariners this offseason, although that came with a modest $610K guarantee at the MLB level, so the Blue Jays aren’t really adding any salary to the books. Through 14 innings in Seattle, Rosscup pitched to a palatable 3.21 ERA with a whopping 20 strikeouts, but he also walked 14 batters and threw a pair of wild pitches.

As noted yesterday, Rosscup had some appealing qualities to him — namely a hefty 40 strikeouts and 18.3 percent swinging-strike rate in his past 25 1/3 big league innings. He’s fallen behind way too many hitters this season but has also generated a swinging strike on 30 of the 101 sliders he’d thrown, so there’s certainly some level of intrigue surrounding his ability to miss bats. If the Jays can sort him out, he’d be controllable through the 2021 season.

Cordero, meanwhile, was a recent waiver claim himself but barely lasted a week in his return to the Blue Jays organization. He appeared in one game with the Jays and allowed a solo homer in 1 1/3 innings pitched. Cordero has a 5.75 ERA, 12 strikeouts and 12 walks in 20 1/3 MLB frames to go along with a career 3.41 ERA, 10.4 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in 63 1/3 innings of Triple-A ball. The 27-year-old has averaged 97.5 mph on a blistering heater in his limited big league action over the past two seasons and can be optioned freely for the remainder of the 2019 season, but he’ll be out of minor league options come 2020.

Mariners Select Ryan Garton, Designate Zac Rosscup

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The Mariners announced a group of moves that will change up their bullpen mix. Righty Ryan Garton’s contract was selected; he’ll be joined by fellow righty Matt Festa, who was recalled.

To make 40-man space for Garton, the M’s have designated southpaw Zac Rosscup for assignment. Active roster space for Festa comes at the expense of Erik Swanson, who was optioned out.

The 29-year-old Garton earned his way back to the bigs for the first time since 2017 after showing well in a swingman capacity at Triple-A. In 26 innings over a dozen appearances, including one start (just the second of his professional career), Garton posted a 3.46 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.

Rosscup, 30, had an outwardly appealing 3.21 ERA but had allowed 14 walks to go with twenty strikeouts in 14 innings. He was posting yawning platoon splits, dominating those left-handed hitters he didn’t walk (.087/.323/.087) while being tuned up by righties (.344/.447/.500).

Mariners Sign Zac Rosscup

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The Mariners announced Thursday that they’ve signed left-handed reliever Zac Rosscup to a one-year, Major League contract. The team’s 40-man roster is now up to a total of 38 players.

“When healthy, Zac has swing-and-miss stuff, which has translated at all levels,” general manager Jerry Dipoto said in a statement accompanying today’s announcement. “We look forward to seeing what he can do with good health and real opportunity.”

Rosscup, 30, has indeed demonstrated proficiency in missing bats throughout his career, averaging 11 strikeouts per nine innings in the minors and averaging 11.9 K/9 in 65 2/3 frames at the MLB level. He’s also posted a strong 14.2 percent swinging-strike rate in his MLB career, and though he’s totaled just 18 innings over the past two seasons, those 2017-18 campaigns have been particularly interesting. Rosscup has dramatically increased the usage of his slider in that time, resulting in an eye-catching 30-to-4 K/BB ratio in that time. He’s pushed his swinging-strike rate beyond the 18 percent threshold and his opponents’ chase rate past 37 percent in that small sample of work.

Of course, as Dipoto alluded to, the real question with Rosscup is one of health. Over the past four seasons he’s missed time due to blister issues, a calf injury and multiple instances of shoulder inflammation — one of which resulted in surgery that cost him the entire 2016 season. Rosscup managed just 21 1/3 innings between the minor leagues and the majors this past season and 49 total innings the year prior.

Clearly, there’s ample injury risk as pertains to the lefty, but his ability to generate whiffs is, at the same time, genuinely intriguing. He also still has just three years, 164 days of Major League service time, meaning if he manages to carve out a role in the Seattle bullpen, he can be controlled through the 2021 season via the arbitration process. The Mariners’ bullpen has been thinned out dramatically this winter following trades of Edwin Diaz, James Pazos, Alex Colome and Juan Nicasio as well as the outrighting of Erasmo Ramirez and Nick Vincent. Given that mass exodus of relievers orchestrated by Dipoto & Co., Rosscup should have a fairly straightforward opportunity to prove himself a capable relief option.

Dodgers Release Erik Goeddel, Zac Rosscup

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The Dodgers released right-hander Erik Goeddel and left-hander Zac Rosscup, tweets Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Both pitchers were designated for assignment earlier this week as the Dodgers worked to set their 40-man roster before the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft.

Goeddel, 30 next month, quietly enjoyed a nice year split between the Mariners and Dodgers, pitching to a combined 2.95 ERA with 10.8 K/9, 4.9 BB/9, 1.0 HR/9 and a 44.8 percent ground-ball rate in 36 2/3 innings of work. He also did an excellent job of limiting hard contact (23.3 percent, per Statcast) while posting a swinging-strike rate (15.8 percent) and a chase rate (37.4 percent) that were vastly better than the league average (10.7 percent and 30.9 percent, respectively).

That said, Goeddel’s control was clearly a problem, as he walked 20 batters, hit another and threw three wild pitches in those 36 2/3 frames. Goeddel also posted below-average spin rates on both his four-seamer and his curveball, and he was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $900K in his first winter of arbitration eligibility. Any team adding Goeddel would have the ability to control him through the 2021 season.

The 30-year-old Rosscup was claimed off waivers out of the Rockies organization in July and pitched 11 1/3 innings out of the L.A. ’pen thereafter. He was tagged for six earned runs in that time but also posted a terrific 20-to-4 K/BB ratio in that time. Rosscup, who threw his slider at a 50 percent clip in this year’s small sample of work, posted a massive 19.5 percent swinging-strike rate and a 37.9 percent chase rate. However, he also yielded a 43.5 percent hard-hit rate (via Statcast).

Rosscup has overwhelmed lefties throughout his career, holding same-handed opponents to a .138/.266/.275 slash. On the other side of the coin, righties have utterly clobbered him, hitting .317/.389/.634 in parts of five big league seasons. Like Goeddel, he has three-plus years of big league service and can technically be controlled through the 2021 seasons by any organization that adds him.

Dodgers Designate Erik Goeddel, Release Tom Koehler

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The Dodgers announced today that they have designated three players: righty Erik Goeddel, lefty Zac Rosscup, and infielder/outfielder Tim Locastro. Meanwhile, the club released right-hander Tom Koehler, who signed with the club as a free agent last winter but was arbitration-eligible.

Those moves helped create space for new additions to the 40-man roster. Notable prospects Keibert Ruiz and Yadier Alvarez were selected, along with infielders Matt Beaty and Edwin Rios as well as right-hander Josh Sborz.

Goeddel, who’s a month from his 30th birthday, was rather effective last year after several tough campaign. He worked to a 2.95 ERA in 36 2/3 innings with the Mariners and (mostly) Dodgers. Goeddel racked up 44 strikeouts but also issued twenty walks.

Those productive innings were expected to come from Koehler, who signed a $2MM deal last winter but ended up being sidelined all year due to injury. His season ended with shoulder surgery, so he’ll be looking for a place to rebuild value in 2019.

Rosscup has bounced around in recent years and has never yet entrenched himself in the majors. He did record twenty strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings for the Dodgers in 2018, but also coughed up three homers and six earned runs. As for Locastro, he has posted strong numbers at the plate in the minors over the past two years but has received scant MLB opportunity. He could appeal to teams that are looking for versatility, as he has plenty of experience playing up the middle on both the infield dirt and the outfield grass.

Dodgers Claim Zac Rosscup, Designate Edward Paredes

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The Dodgers announced today that they have claimed lefty Zac Rosscup off waivers from the Rockies. In a corresponding move, the club designated fellow southpaw Edward Paredes for assignment.

Rosscup, 30, racked up ten strikeouts without a walk in seven frames last year in Colorado, but had yet to reach the majors this year while working back from finger troubles. He has been effective in limited action at Triple-A, allowing just one earned run on four hits while registering nine strikeouts against three walks in 8 1/3 innings.

The 31-year-old Paredes, meanwhile, managed an 8:2 K/BB ratio but also allowed five runs in his 7 2/3 frames in the majors this year. He has also experienced some walk problems at the Triple-A level, however, issuing 15 free passes in 18 frames.

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